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Monday, March 11, 2013

Survey brings cheer to OBC, disappoints SC/ST Posted by: Maitreyee

New Delhi, Sept 29: The first-of-its-kind report titled "All India
Survey on Higher Education", conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource
Development (HRD) has inspired mixed feelings among various communities
of the country. The survey report indicates the rise in number of Other
Backward Community (OBC) students in various higher educational
institutions across the country. But the survey clearly shows low
percentage of students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (SC/ST) in these academic institutions. While the news has
brought cheers among the OBC people as the survey depicts progress among
the young members of the community, but the SC/ST groups are left
disappointed.
"The percentage of students from the Other Backward Communities who have
enrolled in higher education has gone past 27 per cent, but the number
of students from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes continues
to be unacceptably low," stated the report.
"Of the students in higher educational institutions, OBC students
comprise 27.1 per cent, with 27.3 per cent being male and 26.8 per cent
being female. However, the Scheduled Castes comprise only 10.2 per cent
of the enrolment, with 10.3 per cent male and 10.1 female, while the
Scheduled Tribe enrolment is extremely low at 4.4 per cent, with males
and females almost on a par," further added the report.
The survey was released by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil
Sibal on Friday, Sept 28. The survey was based on information collected
from 448 universities, 8,123 colleges and 4,076 standalone institutions,
until Jul 31. The survey was a voluntary exercise and will help in
gathering relevant statistics on higher education on various parameters.
"Higher enrolment indicates growing interest in higher education in
India. The figures show that India has the highest number of students in
colleges after the United States," said Sibal.
However, Sibal added that students from SC/ST communities need to have a
greater presence in higher educational institutions as their numbers
are very less.
OneIndia News